


Thicker Than Blood

by BarbarianLibrarian



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: AU, First Kiss, First Time, Incest, M/M, Porn With Plot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-11
Updated: 2013-08-11
Packaged: 2017-12-23 04:30:33
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/922008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BarbarianLibrarian/pseuds/BarbarianLibrarian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU where Mako and Bolin aren't blood related, but adopted each other as orphaned street kids.<br/>Mako and Bolin have a small tiff and make nice… in the most unexpected way, thanks to Bolin harboring not so innocent feelings for his ‘big brother’. Mako is a bit of an awkward turtle-duck at first, but eventually comes around.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Thicker Than Blood

**Author's Note:**

> Crossposted [here](http://swaincute.tumblr.com/post/21717746643/mako-bolin-m-m-rp-log-entry).  
> It’s pretty lengthy, so if you’re expecting a quick PWP, I apologize.   
> * _Da Ge/Ge ge_ \- Mandarin; 'big brother'.  
>  _Xiong di_ \- Mandarin; 'little brother'.  
>  _Xiao zang gui/Xiao gui_ \- Mandarin; 'dirty little devil'. An affectionate pet name.  
>  _Huaibaor_ \- Mandarin; 'little package of badness'. An affectionate pet name.

As far as Bolin could remember, he didn’t have any family related to him by blood. In his earliest memories, he was alone, wandering the streets of Republic City, surviving by pure chance and sheer force of will. He wasn’t talented in much of anything; his attempts at stealing goods and food often came at the cost of a scrape or bruise, sore muscles and practically unable to move for a length of time. But even those moments were infrequent in his memories, only remembered more so by emotion than anything visual; the thick teen’s life had consisted of his dearest friend and older ‘brother’, Mako.

Even in their youth, they had butted heads more often than not. Bolin had been careless despite having another at his side, constantly getting hurt or in situations he couldn’t get out of. Having been incapable of any sort of bending ability in his youth, it was often up to the young firebender to come to his aid when the younger man was cornered by the city’s lowlifes or occasional rabid animals. He had come to depend on Mako for survival during their youth, often counting on the elder boy to act as a distraction while he would attempt to take whatever he could from nearby shops and merchants. They never had a true home, making due with whatever they could find from day to day, but Bolin found that it never truly mattered. Wherever Mako was, the young boy felt right at home.

Their lives seemed to turn up-side-down when puberty came early for Bolin, who found himself suddenly capable of earthbending. He took to it quickly, though not without issue. He had never been an entirely grounded individual, so grabbing hold of what was needed for proper earthbending technique and form had been difficult at the start. While he had been incredibly pleased by his newfound ability, Mako seemed otherwise. He smiled for his younger brother’s sake, was supportive and helpful when he could be, but as time wore on, the other boy seemed to grow more and more distant and easily annoyed. Mako had always been quick to snap and chide Bolin, but it only seemed to grow worse and worse as time went on.

Despite their frequent arguments, Bolin and Mako were still incredibly close. The earthbender would never allow anything to come between the feelings he held for his older brother, even if they bordered along something that wasn’t entirely innocent. He had voiced his feelings once, many years ago, but the other teen had brushed him aside and they simply continued as they had been. Bolin had taken that as a sign to move on, to find someone whom he could pursue that path with, but time and again he found himself still drawn to Mako. Not that he didn’t try, of course; becoming a member of a pro-bending team with his brother opened the doors to a whole new world, and adoring fans along with it. Despite his love for all the attention and female squeals of his name, Bolin never truly followed through with anything he had ever told his brother regarding his love for his fans, unable to get past what he felt for the other bender.

After a chance encounter with the Avatar, of all people, the two brothers seemed to argue all the more. Bolin trusted in her completely, was amazed by her abilities and her quickness to adapt to new earthbending techniques, but Mako was still hesitant to trust her. Bolin and his brother butted heads time and again, but a particularly bad argument left them in a position of not speaking a word to one another for a handful of days. Mako had always been the stronger of the two when it came to keeping the silence, while the younger sibling always found himself succumbing to his need for his brother’s affections and companionship.

Despite having enough money to afford various items, the stealing and sharing of various sweets had been a ritual of theirs since they had been children. While attempting to take a few pastries in their youth, Mako had been caught and his hands beaten severely. They were scarred, hurt him dearly, and had been practically useless for quite some time. Bolin felt horrible; he had begged his brother for those treats, had whined and pleaded and wouldn’t let up until he finally gave in. He felt like what had happened to Mako had been all his fault. A few days later, Bolin greeted his brother with what he had been trying to take: a wintermelon sweetheart cake, sweet manju, and a thousand layer pastry. They had enjoyed them, Mako with his wintermelon cake and Bolin with his manju, but when they had nearly finished sharing the last piece, the elder boy’s hands had been shaking and left him clearly in pain. Bolin offered him the last piece, holding it out for the firebender to eat from his fingers, and then carefully wiped his older brother’s lips clean with a small, apologetic smile on his own. Ever since then, it had become a customary thing, a symbolic gesture of their coming together and strengthening the brotherly bond between them.

Walking the market streets during peak business hours, Bolin easily procured exactly those items, carefully slipping them into the wide sleeves of his coat with no one being the wiser. He returned to their shared home in the attic of the arena, unable to shake the familiar feeling of unease that would often settle upon him at such moments. They had gone through the ritual countless times over, and yet Bolin always feared a day would come when Mako would refuse and what he had come to view as a surefire way for them to make up would shatter completely. Placing the sweets on a plate and, after shuffling his feet awkwardly for a few moments, finally made his way to the window ledge which his brother was often seen sitting at. He stopped before he got too close, cleared his throat to grab Mako’s attention, and held the plate up with a soft smile when narrow, brown eyes finally glanced in his direction.

Mako was simply one of many orphans who took to the streets; a common and depressing problem that the leaders of Republic City liked to gloss over and ignore. More and more children lost their parents to disease, starvation, exhaustion, and cold-blooded murder thanks to the Triads ruling the poorer districts. The black-haired youth often went for days without ingesting more than dirty water, wilted  _pak choi_ , and pickled root vegetables (even then, that was considered a bountiful meal); spending his his hours either scrounging for dropped change on the streets, asking for small jobs in the local market districts, or purse snatching. His strong sense of ethics made the first hit-and-grab difficult to followthrough with, but his own hunger and desperation made all the following attempts at thievery easier to enact.

The Firebender had been a proud, arrogant, and temperamental child who often started (and ended) fights between other street kids over ‘territory’, as Mako refused to ally himself with the Triads, no matter what they promised, then threatened. Despite his wild and almost savage methods of handling anything he perceived as a threat, stumbling upon a younger, rather rotund boy by the name of Bolin changed everything. The elder street kid suddenly had another mouth to feed, as much as his realistic and logical side protested to the arrangement, but he was willing to take more risks for the brunette. Bolin’s presence; his love and adoration for his “ _Gege_ ” (big brother) and vulnerability, it gave Mako something to live and fight for. Existing simply because he didn’t want to die had left him hollow inside, but having an important role- providing the protection and emotional well being of his surrogate sibling- gave him purpose, drive, even goals that extended far beyond basic necessities such as food and shelter. 

The once brutal and violent Firebender quickly matured in order to assume the role of parent, mentor, and provider; tempering his own emotions into a calm, collected, and taciturn mask. He couldn’t afford to be reckless anymore, not when Bolin was depending on him. Keeping the brunette safe from bullying, mending what few clothes they owned, working for small amounts of yuan or food; Mako had become downright maternal and shockingly responsible once his ‘ _xiong di_ ’ remained ever clinging at his taller side.

As though dealing with the sudden onset of puberty wasn’t difficult enough, finding a teacher or detailed tomes to further enhance Bolin’s Earthbending abilities added more stress to the already (if willingly) over stressed Mako. As the small, knock-kneed brunette began to turn his pudge into solid muscle and gained several inches in height, the Firebender slowly realized that his little ‘package of badness’ had managed to grow into a young man, seemingly overnight. Whereas his younger self would focus on nothing but their next meal, having fun, and treated Mako like the sun and the moon, the younger bending brother was pulling away and becoming more independent. Bolin’s laughably obvious interest in girls never failed to make Mako internally seethe with anger and jealousy, no because he himself was without admirers, but because he was honestly jealous that Bolin was paying heed to anyone else but him.

Their last fight had ended in petulant name-calling and huffing, as always, but Mako refused to relent. The presence of Avatar Korra was unexpected, but he had assumed she would move on to complete her training, not decide to stick around as the replacement member of their probending team. Bolin still failed to get the idea into his thick skull that Avatar Korra had better things to do than ‘pal around’ with two gutter kids, but as always, the stubborn Earthbender refused to see reason. They were from two distinctly different worlds; Korra had her own responsibilities to uphold, as did they. Expecting anything different was pointless.

After feigning indifference, Mako had taken his frustrations out in the training arena; lifting weights, running laps, and proving that his own emotions were really out of hand when he nearly caused a contained backdraft within the building. Instead of dialing back his anger a few notches, this loss of focus and control just irked the black haired Captain further, not understanding why Bolin couldn’t be happy with the direction their life had been heading in. It had always been just the two of them, it was all they’d ever needed- wasn’t that enough?

The Firebender had taken up his position at the window overlooking Republic City, his stern, normally serious expression fading into a tired sort of malaise. They were so close to attaining the jackpot, Mako couldn’t afford to think about anything else. He was grateful for Toza’s generosity and supportive fondness for he and Bolin, but they couldn’t rely on his kindness forever. Mako wanted a better life for he and his brother, away from the gangs and trash laden alleyways they’d come to call ‘home’. The Probending Championship was their ticket out of that life.

Bolin was never good at attempting to daintily shift his bulk around, so his elder brother heard him coming a mile away. As always, the offered truce meal was accepted in terse silence. Swiveling around to turn his back on the skyline overlooking Airbender Island, Mako reached over and took the flaky pastry filled with candied wintermelon paste. They supped upon their respective favorites where sweets were concerned, eventually breaking the Thousand-Layer cake bun. As was customary, Mako broke off the first piece, ample for even Bolin’s larger, wide and square-shaped palms, before peeling off a smaller portion for himself. The taller teenager’s eyes widened just slightly as gooey rice paste sweetened with mandarin orange zest coated his tongue, glancing up at his surrogate sibling in confusion.

They had always chosen ‘surprise’ filling Thousand-Layer buns, and yet this particular one housed the exact same flavor as the previous bun a far younger Bolin had given his idol and source of happy normalcy several years ago. Mako’s knuckles sang and throbbed with ghostly echoes of the intense, unrelenting pain he’d endured during those first few days after his punishment for thievery. Thank the ancestors that he didn’t lose use of them altogether, but he was certain that had he been kept a minute longer than it took for the baker’s husband to finally tire of flogging Mako’s hands with a heavy rolling pin, he would have needed to amputate fingers, or worse.

“… this is a seasonal flavor; they normally don’t sell these during this time of year. Charmed over some baker’s girl with the mating caterpillars attached to your forehead, did you?” Mako scoffed gruffly, a ghost of a smile pulling at the corners of his thin lips.

Though Bolin had grown much over the years, as he stepped toward his brother with they plate of treats, he resembled the chubby, uncertain youth he had once been. His chest wasn’t puffed out in a cocky, confident fashion, his smile soft and almost hesitant, his steps barely ghosting off the floor as he stepped closer. It wasn’t that he was frightened or regretful of the argument they had - when didn’t they argue? - but when it was only the two of them, the earthbender saw no reason to continue with his usual robust ways.

Bolin leaned against the wall beside his brother, holding the plate out for Mako to take his pastry, before setting it down on the ledge between them and quietly consuming his own. It was a familiar ritual; things always felt awkward at first, a terse air settled between them, but as they finished their own desserts and moved on to the final piece, whatever issue that had been between them practically disappeared. Bolin hadn’t intended for his apology so long ago to turn into something they returned to time and again, but he certainly didn’t mind. He enjoyed his close bond with is surrogate brother, even if that was all it would ever be. Even if, sometimes, it did hurt when he’d go to such lengths to find someone he could become intimate with, only to find that he couldn’t.

Once he had licked his fingers clean of his own pastry, Bolin smiled and nodded in thanks as a portion of the Thousand Layer cake was offered. He picked at the soft dough and sweet filling, running a finger through the thick liquid that coated his piece and licking it clean with a soft hum of satisfaction. The flavor was one they hadn’t had in years, and though there was a moment of sadness associated with it, it was also a moment of comfort; a time when, despite the pain that had been born of it, the two found their bond strengthen all the more.

One large brow rose in question as Mako broke the silence, a finger still between the younger sibling’s lips before it slipped out with a loud pop. “No, they were busy, I just grabbed the first one I saw - they’re not mating caterpillars, they don’t even meet in the middle!” Bolin exclaimed as he wiggled his eyebrows at the other teen. One up, then the other, furrowing his brow then alternating between which shifted upward before he stopped and laughed lightly. “Pabu helped, actually. Everyone saw him running around and were too distracted to notice me,” he further explained as he finished off the remainder of his piece and wiped his hand against his dark slacks. When he glanced at the plate and saw that only a small piece of the pastry remained, he carefully grasped at it with his thumb and forefinger, then held it out toward the other teen with a fond smile. Mako’s hands might not bother him anymore, but the final act of sharing the desserts had remained all the same.

A knife’s edge of a grin appeared on the dour firebender’s face as he watched Bolin’s expressive, comically thick eyebrows seemingly move independently of the other, with a life all their own. It was easy to see why he garnered such rabid amount of fangirls. The thicker teen had really come into his own over the past few years, leaving behind the shy and skittish demeanor for an almost obnoxiously positive and charismatic energy that drew others to him. Seeing that eased the captain’s worries, knowing he’d been able to provide enough for the younger orphan to allow him to really emerge from his shell and realize his full potential. 

Mako immediately frowned, lips pressing into a firm, angry line. His gold-hazel eyes darkened with a stern, cold gleam as he angled his chin towards the uneven floorboards of their shared loft, feeling his pulse quicken from how quickly his ire had been raised.

“You -stole- these?  _Bolin_ …” the elder teen growled, but seeing the shorter brunette extend the last mouthful of layered cake, he merely sighed. That tired, deflated weariness came back in full force, making him just mutter heavily under his breath and shake his head. “Next time, pay for them. We have enough saved up to afford small luxuries like these, all right?” 

It was difficult to remain annoyed in the face of that expectant, warm smile. Lowering his eyelids slightly, Mako leaned forward and gingerly took the offered morsel between his lips and teeth without issue or further complaint, chewing softly and thoughtfully as the tangy notes of almost sweet and sour orange pulp danced across his palate, balanced out by the cloying, heavy sweetness of the pounded mochi filling. He pressed his lips together and licked at the seam of his mouth to clean off whatever crumbs or smears of filling there was left, leaning his right elbow against the top of one crooked knee as his foot rested against the raised, wooden seat closest to the large windows.

“Thanks. It was good. As always,” the elder male muttered, knowing that Bolin would ask him anyway. Like he’d ever respond differently. It wasn’t just the fond memories associated with the food itself, but the fact that Bolin’s gesture solidified the unbreakable bond of trust they both shared to keep such a childish ritual as a mainstay in their now rapidly changing lives. 

“I did all the time when we were kids, it would feel weird to me if I actually paid for them. It’s a part of it,” Bolin explained, his smile fading slightly at his brother’s annoyance. Would Mako refuse the last piece, knowing he had stolen it? Would he chide him for having done so time and again in the past? Bolin wasn’t necessarily sentimental, nor found much meaning in doing something a specific way, but what he shared with his surrogate brother, it meant a lot to him. To change what they had done for so many years, even something as simple as purchasing the pastries, it just wouldn’t feel right to him. Each part of the process, as meaningless as it might look to others, held purpose to the green-eyed youth. Going back to where Mako had been harmed so horribly had been a foolish, but daring decision, stealing the pastries right under their noses could have ended in disaster. But he had gotten away with it, and at that time, Bolin felt as though he had avenged his brother, as small a thing as it might have been.

The earth bender’s smile returned in strength when Mako took the remaining piece right from his outstretched hand, and if Bolin’s eyes lingered on his lips and the flash of tongue set the hairs at the back of his neck on end, well, he didn’t have to know. With the ritual done and the air between them cleansed, Bolin set the plate aside to lean against the railing, overlooking the view Mako so frequently gazed upon. After a moment, he glanced at his brother, and upon eyeing a small crumb of sweetened dough at the corner of his lips, gently brushed it away with his thumb before slipping the tip of the digit into his own mouth. It was hardly new; he had done it before, though infrequently.

Looking back at Airbender Island once more, Bolin eyed the thick, dark clouds that appeared to be heading their way. He frowned slightly. Though he enjoyed the sound and smell of rain, it could get incredibly chilly in the attic at times. “Looks like it’s gonna rain,” he practically pouted, resting his chin in his palm as he scratched at his calf with his foot. “Good thing I bought some more tea while I was out. That shop down the road had more of that lichee tea you like,” Bolin said as he smiled at his brother once more. Selfish as Bolin could be at times, he never failed to get sick of doing something small for Mako, even if it was as small as purchasing tea.

Mako blinked in confusion when Bolin swiped the pad of his thumb against his lower lip and against the corner of his mouth, but he didn’t pull away. The elder male stared rather blatantly as his younger sibling wrapped his lips around the tip of his thumb, cleaning off whatever sugary confectionary he’d missed the first time around. A flicker of interest made his spine straighten slightly, but ever accustomed to pulling back from any emotional response he felt would be inappropriate, the captain simply got to his feet and physically put some distance between them.

“I’ll have some in the morning,” Mako replied easily, already setting to work on closing up the shutters to keep the wind and the wetness out of their room. He stuffed some dirtied rags and used sweat towels in the cracks between the wooden hinges and slats just to be sure, not wanting to wake up a few hours later to find a small lake forming beneath each windowsill.

“We should get up early and surprise Toza by cleaning the gym from top to bottom- That’ll put him in a better mood since the Avatar’s going to be a regular visitor. The less cranky he gets, the easier it’ll be on all of us. We owe him that much,” Mako stated, padding over to a crooked set of shelves and cabinets that housed their meager belongings. After shoving aside some extra pants, legging wraps, boxers, and undershirts, the firebender unfolded and fluffed the thick futon covers he’d managed to trade for a few years ago. They were made of real silk, none of the man-made and artificial blends, so they breathed during the hot months, but kept the warmth in during cold, wet nights like this one. Large patches of mismatched fabric could obviously be seen keeping the comforters held together by nothing more than threads, Mako having proven to have a talent for sewing, as well as bending.

After setting up their beds for the evening, Mako stripped down to his undershirt he usually wore during training (when they went without the padded suits), leaving his day to day utility slacks on just in case the wind really started to  pick up and left them both shivering to the bone with the sudden drop in temperature.

It usually didn’t take long before either of them passed out from all the hard work and activity during their busy training schedules, but Bolin proved to be especially restless. Mako focused on the steady in and out of his own breathing to lull his own mind into unconsciousness, but when the brunette slipped beneath his futon and snuggled up beside him, the elder male chuckled in a raspy, fatigue-thickened voice.

“This hasn’t happened in awhile… Not going to start crying on me, are you?” Mako teased, though his lethargic mirth in his expression and voice faded to one of quiet concern when Bolin didn’t immediately slug, shove, or otherwise rile him back.

After a moment of concerned silence, Mako smirked and wrapped both of their bodies within the futons like a massive, breathing dumpling and began massaging the younger probender’s back and shoulders, long and scarred fingers slowly and gently rubbing in small circles up and down the length of his spine, then his upper arms.

“Need me to sing for you,  _xiao zang gui_?” Mako asked as he grinned once again, using an affectionate nickname he’d constantly called a younger Bolin. As ridiculous as it sounded, the earthbender used to be easily frightened and a bit of a crybaby, so the elder sibling would often sing verses of a very old, popular folk song from his parents’ village. No matter what was vexing the weepy or suddenly mopey young brunette, maybe some nostalgia might help to ease his worries.

Gently rocking them both from side to side, mimicking the gentle, bobbing motions of a small fishing boat the way his grandfather used to when Mako was very young, the firebender closed his eyes and began to sing quietly, if shockingly well for a man who seemed so humorless and rough in his dealings.

It was a very old song that often brought tears to his family’s eyes, despite the happiness and beauty inherent in the lyrics describing a vast, peaceful lake where local fisherman caught wild game and tended rice paddies, lotus root, and other crops in the fertile beds of soil surrounding it. There had been a sense of loss and sadness he could never put his finger on in his grandfather’s voice as it warbled to various scales, rising and falling in pitch the way a ripple travels across the surface of calm waters.

Unaware of the effect the simple touch had on the other bender, Bolin simply nodded when his brother stated he would have some tea the following morning. He helped ready the attic for the storm, remembering clearly when they failed to properly set up for a large storm during one of their first nights there, only to awaken cold and soaking wet due to the amount of rain that had poured in overnight. He stopped in his actions when Mako commented on the Avatar’s visits, staring in wide-eyed surprise for a moment. Their previous argument had been about Korra and her presence; Mako had been completely against it, while Bolin wanted her to visit as frequently as possible. To hear the firebender mention her, and in a way that was more welcoming than it had been before, put a wide smile on Bolin’s lips as he happily continued his work.

Once everything was set and it was time for bed, Bolin shrugged out of the top half of his clothing, preferring to sleep with nothing but the blankets pressed against his chest. As the night wore on and a chill settled within the room, however, he found himself uncomfortably cold, constantly moving about to warm himself as his teeth chattered. When it became too much to bare, he shuffled out of his bed to join Mako, slipping beneath the blanket to wrap his arms around his older brother. They used to sleep together when they were children, keeping one another warm when they didn’t have a proper place for the night. It became less frequent as they grew, but it wasn’t uncommon. The only thing that really kept it from happening more often, aside from the added years, was Bolin’s less-than-brotherly affections for the elder boy, but at that moment he was far too cold to care. Mako always seemed to be unnaturally warm, no doubt a result of his bending ability.

“M’cold,” he mumbled sleepily as Mako turned to wrap his arms around the earthbender. Bolin shifted closer, knowing full well he was far too close to the other teen for comfort, but not caring in the slightest. When he was asked if he wanted Mako to sing, the thicker teen made a soft noise of agreement, pressing even closer as his surrogate brother began to do just that. A small, lazy smile pulled at his lips as a voice that wasn’t particularly good at singing joined the gentle patter of rain against the window shutters, Bolin immediately feeling warm, at ease, and safe. The longer the song continued, the easier he found it to drift closer to sleep, his head slipping beneath Mako’s chin as he pressed in close.

“You have a nice voice,  _gege_ ,” Bolin sighed, unaware of how close his lips now sat to Mako’s clothed chest. His arms tightened around the thinner teen’s waist for but a moment before going slack, the earthbender sighing softly as he slipped into a light but comfortable sleep.

Mako snorted softly as Bolin drifted off like an infant, carding his gloved hands though thick, unruly brown hair that even the finest of ivory combs couldn’t seem to tame. The earthbender was a bit of a showoff and a strutting peacock, but his  _da ge_  allowed it if only because he’d been such a reticent and fearful youth in the past. It did get annoying, if only because of the wailing throngs of fangirls, but at least the younger bender had earned his bragging rights.

With a fond and maternal smile, the elder teen made a soft shushing nose, holding the now considerably thicker and heavier brunette closer against his leaner chest.

“Sleep well,  _xiong di_ ,” Mako murmured against the crown of of his sibling’s forehead, pressing his lips against the defiant little curl of hair sitting directly in the middle of chestnut brown waves that otherwise were slicked back and styled back against his skull.

Thinking it would be but mere moments before, he too, fell asleep, Mako soon found himself unable to get very comfortable. Perhaps he’d just grown accustomed to his newfound sense of personal space, but having Bolin pressed flush against his front and breathing hotly against the nape of his neck began to stir up what he thought were long since dead embers of certain emotions in the back of his mind.

He’d thought that his little brother had to be drunk or confused when the younger probender had tried to kiss him so many years ago, immediately pushing Bolin back to keep him from mistaking his feelings of trust and familial love for… something else. Mako was practically his mother, father, brother, and teacher all rolled up into one package; the firebender just couldn’t- wouldn’t- allow himself to think of the younger orphan that way. However, the longer they remained entangled within each other’s arms, the less of a vulnerable child in need of protecting did his brother become.

Small, soft limbs and a cherubic face had definitely grown in size and mass- Bolin’s physique becoming increasingly solid, angular, and (when Mako wasn’t hiding behind his constantly bored mask of cool indifference) quite handsome. No small wonder that the girls flocked to him, as shallow as they were; Bolin was good looking, had a sense of humor, and was semi-famous in their city district.

His scarred hands eventually left their place at Bolin’s broad shoulder blades, slipping around the ample girth of his biceps and the thickly corded bulk of his forearms, even his darker colored skin feeling harder to the touch that that of his elder’s. Mako swiped his tongue against his own lower lip in self-aware discomfort as he realized he was pretty much feeling his ‘little brother’ up, guilt and uncertainty churning low in his gut.

When the brunette began leaning into his wandering fingers, seeking out more warmth and familiar touches, Mako tried to gently pull at least a few inches away to put some appropriate space between them, but the unhappy whine and veritable bear-hug that followed kept Mako firmly in place. The black-haired teen sighed in a defeated fashion, instead relaxing his limbs once more and resigning himself to being the younger man’s source of comfort for the evening. 

When he tried to leave another chaste, fraternal kiss against the earthbender’s left cheek, Bolin suddenly tilted his head at an angle, brushing their mouths together for a fleeting moment; yet not fleeting enough to keep a sudden rush of nervous, confused, but also appreciative heat from spreading from the center of his chest, outwards.

“Bo- Hey, Bolin… I wasn’t, that- I didn’t,” he started, several times, looking completely lost and frozen in place as he searched his suddenly uncooperative brain for some coherent words to string together.

The younger teen slept peacefully, if only for a few moments. Though he enjoyed Mako’s company, they hadn’t slept tangled within each other’s arms as often as they used to. The contact, though familiar, no longer settled his mind as it once had. Having the firebender so close, breathing in his unique scent, feeling the warmth of his body, it made Bolin slowly respond in a way that was in no way right. Mako had denied him years ago. If he knew the earthbender still harbored feelings for him, who knew what would happen.

As Bolin stirred faintly and rose his head, close eyes snapped open when he felt lips settle against his own. He stared at the other bender in silence, eyes wide in disbelief, breath caught in his throat as his heart thudded widely in his chest. He was no better off than Mako, who at least stumbled for words, though the ones currently being uttered weren’t the ones Bolin had hoped for. Rather than a confession of perhaps feeling something other than familial fondness for his surrogate brother, the elder teen denied that what had just happened was intended. Wide, hopeful eyes slowly looked down and away as he worried at his lower lip with his teeth, then slowly pulled away with a rough laugh.

“Don’t worry about it,” Bolin replied and though he tried to mask his dismay, it was barely hidden. He had never been very good at lying about how he felt. “Think I’m gonna go back to my own bed. Not used to sleeping like this anymore, can’t sleep,” he explained as he slipped out of the comfortable warmth and returned to his own far colder bed. He pulled the blanket up to his shoulders, then his chin, then along the bridge of his nose as he turned to his side, his back to the other teen. He curled up in an attempt to keep warm, pulled at the blanket to tuck himself in as well as he could, but it failed to make him any more comfortable or capable of sleep. Now he simply felt far too awake, and for all the wrong reasons. The familiar heartbreak he had felt all those years ago when he had first placed a timid kiss on Mako’s lips had returned, a tight discomfort right in his chest, a churning of his stomach, and an inability to calm his mind which now ran rampant with countless what-ifs.

Mako’s narrower, amber-hazel eyes stared back into Bolin’s now wider, almost painfully hopeful expression, the firebender feeling as though a shard of thick glass had just wedged itself right into his sternum. 

“Wait. Bolin-” the elder probender started, reaching out to try and physically keep the younger orphan from drawing away. Of course, he’d been spending all of this time brooding, agonizing, and being ridiculous over his sibling’s changes, yet while he outwardly supported the stout, athletic brunette, he secretly resisted and resented that their relationship and personal dynamic was beginning to change. When it came down to what mattered most to the firebender, he just wanted he and his ‘little bro’ to stick together, as they had been since the beginning.

Sitting upright with his futon cover pooled and folded around his slender waist, Mako was at a loss for how to repair the wedge he’d just driven even deeper between he and Bolin. After staring at the now hurt earthbender’s back for what felt like far too many anxious, passive minutes, the elder teenager slipped behind his surrogate brother willingly. Limber, lean and dexterous bare arms slowly, almost cautiously wrapped themselves around the silk blankets covering Bolin’s forearm, Mako holding onto the wider male’s knuckles with his longer, but thinner fingers.

“I’m sorry,  _huaibaor_ …” he tried again, resorting to yet another old pet name he used to call the younger probender by. When his closest friend and family failed to commit to a verbal answer of any kind, the captain sighed heavily from frustration (directed entirely at himself) and pressed his forehead against the back of the other teen’s neck. Gently shifting his hands so they slipped further up the bare expanse of Bolin’s muscular, impressively built upper arms, the elder male began to press and drag the softness of his lips against tanned skin, Mako closing his eyes slightly as he moved in closer- until he was flush against the brunette’s back. 

Bolin hadn’t expected the other bender to join him in his bed, fully anticipating a sleepless night followed by a horrendous and awkward morning. He visibly tensed when Mako’s arms slipped around him from over the blankets he was nearly completely buried within, shuffling further within them as though to hide away like a frightened turtle-duck. The apology was nice, though failed to make the situation any better; the earthbender still felt like a fool and that his inability to control his feelings for his surrogate brother would, at some point, but their undoing. It had been  _years_  since that disastrous kiss, and despite all of Bolin’s attempts at pushing away his feelings and finding someone whom he could truly be with, nothing ever worked. Denying what he wanted only made it more and more difficult to bare. Not that he would ever leave Mako on that alone. He’d willingly deal with the discomfort if it meant keeping the firebender in his life. But if the elder teen found himself unable to handle his affections, then there wasn’t much Bolin could do to fix it.

The sudden feel of lips at his neck and the press of a warm body at his back made the younger man tense even more. He turned his face toward his pillow, eyes clenched shut in a moment of unease before sighing out a breath he hadn’t even realized he had been holding. “Don’t,” he mumbled softly as he shook his head. “Don’t do that. I’m just an idiot, I tried and I can’t - just forget it. We’ll pretend it never happened,” he said quietly, hopefully, though not without a trace amount of sadness. When Bolin that thought, for that brief instant, that the kiss had been purposely placed on his lips, anticipation, nervousness, and disbelief welled within him. Now he simply felt foolish, uncomfortable, and at a loss.

Mako’s grip around the younger teen’s body tightened in an almost territorial fashion as the firebender tried not to think about Bolin having engaged in similar intimate behavior with others; complete strangers that had no business leading the earnest and far too easy-going brunette’s feelings astray. As much as he hated to admit it, he’d been acting like an immature and jealous woman, the way he’d pushed the other male away further and sulked about the expected results of his cold, misdirected anger. A nagging voice in the back of his mind persisted in arguing that he had no business being like this with a person he’d always perceived to be his own kin, even if they weren’t related by blood, but given the alternative, Mako would rather risk acting on his long since buried and shunted aside affections than continue to hurt the person he cared the most for.

Not trusting himself to manage anything reassuring, at least verbally speaking, the firebender continued to let his mouth explore the back and side of Bolin’s neck. Gentle and light, but willing kisses were trailed down to the join of his right shoulder, the elder and ‘more experienced’ male keeping his touches strangely innocent and cautious, in case Bolin really did just want him to stop and return to his side of the room. 

He couldn’t stand the deafening silence between them, he was used to his younger brother just talking, moving, and cracking enough jokes for the both of them. This didn’t feel natural for either party involved and the longer it continued at this awkward, uncomfortable pace, who was to say the emotional fallout wouldn’t leave a lasting scar on their once ironclad bond.

“Bolin… please,” Mako breathed, trying to express that he was honestly -trying-, furrowing his sharper, angular brow as he tried to guide the earthbender out of hiding from the blankets, hoping that if the other man just met his gaze, he’d understand the sincerity behind his attempts.

The more thin, surprisingly gentle lips pressed soft kisses to his neck and shoulder, the greater Bolin’s body rebelled. He wanted nothing more than to lean into the touch, to let himself finally give in to all that he had wanted for so long, but still his mind remained steadfast and in denial over what was happening. If he just gave in without a single word, he didn’t want to think of just what the world would take as payment. If he turned and pressed his lips to Mako’s own, would he officially shatter what they had? Not having the elder teen in his life was worse than having to gaze at him from afar.

When Mako spoke so close to his ear, only two words that held something within them he couldn’t quite place, Bolin hesitated for a length of time before slowly, cautiously, turning onto his back. The blankets were still up to his chin, hands fiddling beneath the fabric as he refused to meet the other bender’s gaze, chewing at his bottom lip in uncertainty. He was thankful for the soft pitter-patter of the gentle rain outside, otherwise the silence that would had ultimately settled between them would have been deafening.

“Mako, I don’t - I mean, doing this, you don’t have to - I’m just being an idiot, okay, just - ” Bolin started to ramble before he finally dared to look at the man next to him. The intensity within the brown eyes that bore down at him stunned the thicker teen to silence, eyes wide, throat run dry as he quite literally froze in place, his mind taking a few moments to catch up. When it finally did, he groaned loudly, lifting his hands from beneath the blankets to press his palms against his eyes. “Don’t, don’t, don’t - this isn’t fair, Mako, you told me last time that you don’t think of me like that, so I said okay, all right, I wouldn’t do anything but I just - this isn’t fair, I’ve thought of - of you - a lot and, but, that is, you said no, so I tried, I really did, and I just -  _aaaaagh_ ,” Bolin admitted in one quick breath as he covered the top half of his face with his lower arms, shaking his head from side to side in embarrassment.

The elder teenager just frowned, unsure of what to do. He’d finally entertained the fact that he’d also harbored a not so simply defined emotional attachment to his little brother, now it might be too late to do anything about that. The taller probender averted his eyes when his own words were, fairly enough, thrown back in his face. 

“You were… younger, back then. I didn’t think what you felt was anything more than maybe hero-worship, at best,” Mako replied honestly, giving a firm, brief shrug of his bonier shoulders for a loss of what else to say. His expression further darkened as the brunette continued to waffle in indecision, realizing that he was pretty far removed from his usual element and knowledge of how to concisely handle a situation.

The firebender blinked, once, when Bolin’s rambling and unsure mishmash of emotions continued to complicate things further, but all that he could rightly focus on was the admittance that the thicker teen had ‘thought’ of him like this.  _A lot_ , by the sound of it. Mako wasn’t exactly the most imaginative of individuals, but he was clever and adaptable, given the right circumstances. With that single utterance, a sudden curiosity began to steadily eat away at his own hesitation, wondering just how often Bolin had imagined them together like this, his quick and detail oriented mind suddenly needing more information to fill in the gaps.

“I’m not saying that now. ‘No’, that is…” Mako reiterated, gently pulled at far stronger wrists so Bolin would stop trying to keep some form of boundary between them. He remained poised over the shorter male, but the focused, almost hungry flicker of heat and rarely experienced passion that could be seen in his eyes made it clear what his intentions were.

Sliding a still gloved palm against the chiseled angle of the brunette’s jaw and cheek, Mako tried to ensure that the earthbender couldn’t continue to avoid looking at him, without trying to force him still at the same time. He closed the small gap that remained between them, firmly pressing still closed lips to the fuller, surprisingly pliant cushion of Bolin’s mouth. It was an almost laughably chaste and frankly, dull kiss that the normally intense and intimidating captain had just freely given his brother, but considering the type of person the firebender was, the intention held more gravity than the pathetic display he’d just managed.

Bolin was reluctant to move his arms when they were pulled on, keeping them firmly in place for a time before finally allowing them to be moved. He continued to chew on his lower lip in uncertainty, though he stopped when Mako leveled a look on him the likes of which the thicker teen had only dreamed of. He couldn’t help the shudder that ran down his spine at the sight, a shaky sigh slipping from slightly parted lips as he felt the warmth of a gloved palm upon his cheek. Bolin could hardly believe what was happening; he was certain he was dreaming, there was no way Mako was pressed against him like that, gazing down at him with such intent, closing the gap between them to -  _oh_.

The kiss was hardly spectacular compared to what Bolin had imagined them doing time and again, but the fact that it had honestly happened left the earthbender breathless. Eyes wide, body still, unsure of what to do even when Mako broke the contact, large green eyes stared at him for quite some time in disbelief before snorting out a weak laugh of disbelief.

“…Really? When I imagined something like this finally happening, it wasn’t so… quaint,” Bolin mused with a steadily growing smile. “Not that I’m complaining, not at - hey,  _hey_ , come on!” he whined when Mako huffed and tried to move away. The thicker bender wrapped his arms around the slighter man’s waist, keeping him firmly in place. “I’m sorry - sorry, really, it wasn’t bad, honest. Really,” he apologized, pulling the taller teen close as he smiled. It slipped slightly as he thought of the kiss he had just been given, pursing his lips in thought as he stared at Mako. “…Though I kinda wonder… You ever kiss anyone before? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you with a girl or anyone, now that I think about it…,” he slowly asked, gazing at the other man curiously before his eyes widened. “Don’t tell me that was your first kiss. Was it?”

“Quaint,” the firebender deadpanned moodily, narrowing his eyes in annoyance as Bolin ceaselessly shoved his foot deeper into his own mouth. His scowl of disinterest just deepened as his little brother managed to keep him in place by sheer strength alone, making the serious elder teen just look even more ridiculous as he was reduced to sitting there and pouting like a temperamental girl. Perhaps all of… this had been a seriously miscalculation on his own part.

Mako was still frowning pointedly enough to resemble a petulant and fussy toddler, but he couldn’t avoid looking at the younger probender for very long. His hardened expression softened as they resumed where they had left off, though before the team captain could lean in once more and maybe try to prove his surrogate sibling wrong, Bolin just ruined the mood entirely.

Sadly, that much was true- it had been Mako’s first experience with kissing much of anyone in a manner that wasn’t’ strictly innocent, but he didn’t see what that had to do with anything.

“Have fun with imaginary me, he sounds loads more interesting, clearly,” Mako grumbled, pushing away to stomp over to his usual spot at the farmost windowsill, dropping down onto the lightly cushioned wooden bench with about as much grace and poise as a large, enraged gemsbok bull.

He pointedly ignored Bolin’s whining and placating, instead focusing on his one-sided glaring contest with a particularly interesting patch of inky black sky he hadn’t stared at length towards just yet.

“Mako -  _Mako_ , come on, I didn’t -  _Mako_ ,” Bolin practically whined as the elder teen managed to pull away from his grip and stomped off to his usual perch, though situated himself at the bench below it rather than literally in it. The shutters took up far too much space when closed, and with the additional rags which filled in any of the existing cracks, there was no room for much of anyone to settle down comfortably.

Despite the cold in the room, Bolin rose from his bed, deciding to take his blanket along for the ride, and shuffled over with the long bundle of fabric wrapped over his shoulders. Not that it did much what with his torso still left more or less open to the chilled air. “ _Makoooo_ , come on, don’t be like that, I didn’t mean anything by it, really,” Bolin explained as he stepped closer, only for the elder teen to look away and ignored him. The thicker teen nearly pouted and settled at his feet, placing his chin on Mako’s knee as he had done time and against in the past. Very rarely could the other bender deny the big, green eyes pointed in his direction, but when the firebender refused to even take a peek, well, that was a problem.

Sighing out a breath, Bolin settled back on his haunches and looked at his surrogate brother in silence for a moment. His frustration was slowly ebbed away the longer he took him in; the sharp angles of his cheekbones, the smooth slope of his nose, the frown on his thin lips, elegant curve of his jaw and the long line of his neck. Memories of what he had thought of doing with the other man resurfaced the longer he looked, and though hesitance remained - he didn’t want to suddenly scare Mako off, of course - Bolin moved from where he had settled to place his hands on the other man’s knees. His blanket slipped from thick shoulders as Bolin pressed closer, slowly and gently slipping his hands up the other bender’s thighs to push them apart and lean in closer, eyes fixated on the thin, alluring lips just a short distance away.

“I can show you how to kiss. I can teach you,” he said in a clearly distracted fashion. Large, earth-worn hands slid along the tops of the other man’s thighs to finally settle near his hips, the chill air of the room not even registering as his attention focused on something - and someone - else entirely.

The captain of the Fire Ferrets had spent years developing his poker face, so if Bolin was expecting a quick forgive and forget, he had another thing coming. Mako had been far too busy protecting and looking after his  _xiong di_ , then when the brunette began to become less reliant on his elder brother as a source of emotional stability and acceptance, all that had truly mattered to the firebender was training for the probending championship. He’d had his own fair share of fangirls (even a few boys his age), but never once did Mako bother with any of them. Whatever ‘experience’ Bolin had had been anticipating, he wasn’t exactly sure where that came from, but he wasn’t about to take being ridiculed over it.

When firm hands pressed against his knees, Mako was resolute not to react, but the gradual drag of weight sliding up the length of his long, toned thighs- the brush of thick fingers trailing along the inside seam of his loose slacks- made the black haired teen suddenly slide back against the small pillows lining the wooden sitting bench, until he was pressed firmly against the inside corner of the seating area and the small ledge if the window sill. His body reacted on it’s own; spine straightening and making him arch backwards with a strained cross between a groan and a half-choked attempt to protest what the other man was doing slipping past his slightly parted lips.

“Boli-” Mako trailed off, emitting a harsh exhale of a breath when firm, strong hands circled his thin, bony hips, feeling the pads of both of the earthbender’s thumbs slide up the angular protrusions of his hip bones lying beneath the fabric keeping him (thankfully) decent. His lower body canted just slightly into the touch, the elder male biting back another groan as he felt himself begin to grow hard from the low, suggestive growl gracing his ears. His own hands had grasped at Bolin’s thicker wrists in an attempt to stop him from touching him further, the thinner probender’s fingers shaking on and off from a mixture of uncertainty and anxious anticipation.

“I don’t need you to teach me anything,” the firebender managed to grind out in a defensive, prickly fashion, even composing himself enough to shoot the younger male a pouty little glare.

Seeing the other man react positively to his touches sent a shudder down Bolin’s body, licking faintly at his own lips as he took in the sight of the man before him. He had thought of just this time and again, pressing Mako against plush cushions, feeling strong hands grab at him, his back arch in pleasure, his lips part in a groan. As much as he wanted to get around to the less than innocent moments that had come to mind, the earthbender knew better than to take things too far too fast. They had been like family for years; transitioning into an area that was anything but should be a slow process, for both of them to get comfortable and accepting of the situation. Dreams were a hell of a lot different from reality, after all.

When Mako pouted at him suddenly, Bolin snapped from his singular mindset and smiled sheepishly. “I didn’t mean that you don’t - all I meant was - there’s nothing  _wrong_  with it, everyone starts somewhere,” he tried to explain, though when the answer only annoyed the firebender further, the thicker teen wrapped his arms tightly around his waist to keep him in place. “No, no,  _no_ , I didn’t mean anything bad by it! I’ll just stop talking now,” he snorted lightly as he rubbed his cheek against the slighter man’s chest as he leaned half-on, half-off of the bench. Still in disbelief that it was evening happening, Bolin timidly placed a slow and gentle kiss upon Mako’s clothed sternum, smiling at the feel of warm skin hidden by thin fabric.

Mako’s brow furrowed so heavily, his thinner, sculpted eyebrows nearly set into a straight line above his narrowed eyes, the elder man’s shoulders suddenly squaring and hunching in a hilariously exaggerated fashion. The teen probably wasn’t aware of how childish and silly he acted when he became angry, but his tendency to huff and pout frequently wasn’t going away anytime soon.

His intense scowling did manage to soften when Bolin, finally, apologized and dropped the whole issue. The firebender sighed in a long-suffering fashion as thick, tree trunk-like arms wrapped around his midsection and refused to let go, the elder teenager wondering if the brunette still had some growing to do yet (and if so, just how much worse his  _xiong di_ ’s clingy behavior was going to get).

The elder probender leaned back against the wall as Bolin pressed his head against his sternum, rubbing a hand through the short, but wider teenager’s dark brown hair in a slow, affectionate fashion to show that he wasn’t quite as miffed as he used to be.

“Guess we’ll just have to take this at a slow pace,” Mako thought aloud, fully expecting he and his little brother to return to bed and speak no more of it until the next time. Bolin clearly had other ideas, beginning to trail his fuller lips against the bare skin Mako’s undershirt failed to cover up, leaving warm, lingering touches of his mouth along to length of the taller man’s neck. The black haired captain unwittingly tilted his head back against the wall to expose more of the slender column of his neck, digging blunt fingernails against Bolin’s scalp or tugging gently at his thicker, wavy strands of dark brown hair.

“Uh-huh,” Bolin answered in a clearly distracted fashion, lips brushing further and further upward until it came in contact with bare skin. Even that sensation alone sent a soft, barely audible groan of pleasure from deep within the thicker teen’s throat, having wondered again and again just what it would feel like to experience just that. What he had imagined couldn’t hold a candle to the actual sensation, the tight, warm skin beneath his lips, the slight shift of muscle beneath. He kissed higher and higher still, his mind focused on only one thing: the other bender he currently had pressed into the cushions of the seat.

As the earthbender’s lips brushed over Mako’s chin, he paused when he felt the other man’s breath mingle with his own. Green eyes opened to gaze at the other teen in silent question, licking at his own lips once more before closing the gap between them. The touch was still innocent, closed-mouth and gentle, but it was enough to spur Bolin onward. Brushing a thumb against Mako’s chin, he lightly pressed upon it, motioning for him to part his lips, and carefully, curiously, ran the tip of his tongue along the firebender’s lower lip.

Not pushing away, but not exactly responding either, Mako kept whatever reactions his body made under as much control as he could muster. He was enjoying this, but at the same time he’d practically raised Bolin- it was difficult trying to think of him as anything _but_  the ragged little street urchin with a missing front tooth, who used to cling to his hand and idolized his ‘big brother’ for being so ‘cool’ and ‘strong’. As hard as it was to shake those mental images and tendency to think of the brunette as a child, he also acknowledged that the earthbender was now an adult, plainly capable of making his own decisions, especially were his affections were concerned. 

The captain gently rubbed his open palms and spread fingers over the smooth, hardened forms of the younger man’s upper arms, then the broad expanse of his shoulders, Mako having to admit that Bolin definitely had him outclassed where strength, muscle definition, and weight was concerned. The elder teen stared back into the questioning, but eager gaze he was given, glancing away for only a few seconds before meeting the other probender halfway into another slow, sensual kiss. 

Mako arched one dark eyebrow curiously as his sibling tilted his chin at a different angle, slowly parting his lips as he waited for some form of explanation as to what he had just given the brunette permission to do. Making a throaty, startled noise, the taller athlete drew back a little and touched his index and middle finger against the damp spot on his lower lip.

“Did you just lick me?” he asked in a quiet, slightly accusatory voice, not wanting to indirectly wake Toza, even though the former probender slept like a noisy rock.

Bolin made an unintentional - and completely unsexy, if he were to admit it - awkward squawk of surprise when the other man pulled away. He looked at Mako in confusion, blinked a few times as what he had asked sunk in, his mouth moving in some form of an answer before he sat back and rubbed at the back of his head as he tried to figure out a way to explain what he had just tried to do. Remarking on Mako’s unfamiliarity with that form of kissing wouldn’t end well, but how to explain it so that he wasn’t treating him like he was uneducated in such things was difficult. Mako did tend to get annoyed so easily, after all.

“I was kissing you,” Bolin answered as he scratched at his own chin idly. “It’s - you know, a kiss. A different kind? I’m sure you’ve done it before, it’s nothing major,” he said with a shrug, tapping his fingers against one of the seat cushions. He tried to think of some way to keep the moment from going badly, not wanting to upset the other bender by implying he didn’t know what to do. Quickly thinking through numerous things to say, he settled on one thing that stuck out more than any other, one simple desire that stood out time and again when he had imagined such a moment.

“…I just want to make you feel good,” Bolin answered almost sheepishly, glancing aside for a moment. “Ever since the day we met, you’ve been watching over me, making sure I’m okay and everything… You carry so much stress around, I just… I want to help,” he sighed as he lifted a hand to rest a wide, warm palm against Mako’s abdomen. “I know I’m kinda careless - okay, not kinda - and don’t really take things seriously - …okay, I never take things seriously… - but just… let me help you? Like this? As a thank you. And not just like this one little thing tonight and that’s it, but later on, too, if you’re okay with it, I’m not going to force you, I mean, I know how weird this must be for you, not like I didn’t think the same thing when I first, you know, kinda sorta, um… didn’t… keep thinking of you as just a brother, but if this - it’s the least I can do in return for everything you’ve done for me. Not that I mean for this as payment or something, I just want to show you how thankful I am and everything and um okayI’llstopnow,” Bolin rambled then sighed as his head cocked to the side and his shoulders slumped. No doubt he just stuck his foot in his mouth  _again_ thanks to his unbelievably amazing talent to ruin anything and everything thanks to his inability to think before he spoke.

Mako looked nonplussed when Bolin proceeded to explain kissing, like his brain didn’t have the capacity to handle such concepts. 

“I am aware, yes,” he replied curtly, pursing his thin lips slightly. He hadn’t bothered to engage in this sort of thing, true, but that didn’t mean he was a simpleton. His annoyed expression faded into realization as the brunette began to, rather badly, explain what he was trying to do and wanted to share between them. It was earnest, if stilted, but the firebender realized that such a confession was rather paramount where his little brother was concerned.

The taller youth tensed as the earthbender rested a hand against his stomach and lower abdomen, but he was miles less apprehensive than he’d been moments earlier. It was oddly touching to hear the inane rambling, it helped to put the elder male more at ease about the boundaries they were crossing. Not to say there wouldn’t be issues down the road or misunderstandings, knowing their dynamic, but for now… things were progressing as smoothly as they could manage.

“Hey,” the elder teenager said, gripping at Bolin’s squareish jaw and chin, forcing the flustered earthbender to look at him. “You don’t owe me anything. You… do help, by being around. Okay?” he stated rather seriously, feeling as though he should express that whatever downsides that might befall them, he willingly took head on because the brunette was the most important thing in his life.

Feeling that maybe they’d both reached the quota for awkward, emotional sharing, Mako lightly pinched the side of a dimpled cheek at Bolin’s face, smirking slightly to break the tension a little. This time, it was the firebender who leaned in to continue where they had left off, delicately tracing the seam of the younger teen’s mouth with the tip of his tongue. It took a few adjustments and tilts of the head, but they made due, the elder probender resting a hand against the trunk of his surrogate brother’s neck as they began to fell into a level of intimacy that felt natural, despite the sensations being new to one of the pair.

Bolin still tasted faintly of sticky rice and orange zest, whatever lack of technique Mako suffered from not appearing to bother him or downplay the mood. The firebender was silently taken aback by just how… knowledgeable and in his element his younger brother was, trying not to immediately think of his younger brother doing similarly with who knows how many strangers. Having the brunette’s tongue lightly sliding and grinding against his own didn’t feel nearly as awkward as he’d been expecting it to be, pulling his shorter partner closer against the front of his chest. 

Bolin expected to be pushed away once more due to his incredible failure at being able to explain himself, but when Mako gently gripped his chin and instead seemed unbothered by what had been said, the younger teen felt his apprehension fade from his shoulders. He was happy to know he helped his surrogate sibling just by being around, even if they butted heads more often than not, but he felt as though he should do  _more_. Jokes and chatter could go only so far, and though the green-eyed youth didn’t exactly think sex was a cure-all, he could understand why it might help in getting Mako to relax.

The sudden pinch of his cheek made Bolin whine in displeasure, but he didn’t complain much when Mako’s lips pressed against his own once more. The younger bender made a soft noise of satisfaction despite the awkwardness of trying to align just so, the beginnings of a far deeper kiss taking some time and effort, but it wasn’t long before they fell into slow but wonderful rhythm. It was difficult to keep from giving in to his desires entirely, years upon years of having wanted what he was finally getting compiling into sheer need; the likes of which he had never experienced before. It was as though a simple kiss had obliterated the dam that had kept it all contained, his arms and hands nearly shaking with the amount of control it was taking to keep from ruining a damn good thing.

Even so, Bolin let his hands wander, but no where too extreme. As he pressed the elder teen down to the cushions below, slipping onto the bench along with Mako, the earthbender’s hands slid over narrow but firm hips, along the compact muscles of his waist, tugged lightly at his shirt. Even though he was fully invested in kissing the other man, he still tried to pay some mind to the way Mako reacted to his hands, how he tensed or leaned into, shied away or damn near shivered - which only made keeping such a slow pace all the more difficult.

When Mako suddenly broke the kiss, lips red and swollen from their sport, breath coming in quick, deep gasps, Bolin full-out stared. No way in hell could what he have thought of compared to seeing the real thing, the flush on the elder teen’s cheeks, the mere sound of his breathing, the way his tongue slipped between his lips when he held them closed - The earthbender wasn’t even aware he had dipped down for a far more passionate kiss, only acknowledging that he had when Mako pushed him away, said something about needing to catch his breath, but the younger bender’s lips were already trailing down the length of his neck to his collar bone, as though his body was reacting apart from his mind. Lips, teeth, and tongue alike ran along pale skin, and when they came in contact with shirt instead of more warm flesh, Bolin’s hands slipped beneath the other bender’s shirt to hold it at his collar bone. His eyes traveled the length of alluring, firm muscle he had seen time and again, but had never been allowed to look at and experience in such a way, and the youth who so rarely swore allowed a curse to slip through clenched teeth as he ran a large hand along Mako’s abdomen, his mouth returning to his chest once more.

Rather than allowing himself to simply feel and go along with each different sensation and his body’s natural response to warm hands exploring his body, Mako was far too focused on keeping himself from making any sort of noise or reaction he felt was inappropriate. His muscles would tense suddenly, steeling against the instinctual shifts and movements the other man’s touches elicited. When his partner’s fingers dipped too far below his waistline, the firebender would try to angle his lower body away or gently brush aside Bolin’s venturing hand. Not that his nerves weren’t practically demanding that the area between his legs get some attention, posthaste, but that was going too fast, too soon for him.

Forgetting that air flow was just as important as everything else going on, the taller youth suddenly broke the kiss with a breathy utterance, keeping a firm hand against the bulk of his partner’s shoulder. His lips were kiss-bruised and moist from a trace amount of saliva, kept parted slightly as Mako tried to regain his composure. His brother’s name was muffled between their lips when Bolin suddenly pressed against him once more, making him exhale roughly through his nose as the wet heat of the darker teen’s tongue delved back inside his mouth.

“Wh-Hold on, I need to…” the thinner athlete tried explain, biting back another groan as the younger of the pair showed no signs of stopping what he was doing anytime soon. 

“Ngh… Bolin, seriously-” the sterner male trailed off, trying to deter questing hands, lips, and teeth, yet he was unable to do much more than grip tightly at brunette’s shoulders, fingers eventually relaxing and sliding against firm, tanned skin. His own progression of exploring his partner’s body was far more modest and almost shy in it’s composure, compared to the almost voracious manner in which Bolin was leaving marks, licking wet stripes against every inch of his lighter flesh, and teasing various sensitive areas of his neck and chest. Mako clenched his eyes shut and dug his fingernails against the bare planes of the other teen’s shoulder blades and back when he felt the earthbender’s mouth latch onto the darker, hardened flesh of his left nipple; shuddering deeply as the pressure between his toned thighs increased to an almost unbearable degree. “Just… Slow down, already,” the elder brother complained rather weakly compared to the previous times he’d chided or tried to bring what they were doing to a halt, trying to ignore how hypersensitive his body had become to every minute sensation.

Despite Mako’s halfhearted pleas for Bolin to stop, the younger of the pair only made a noise of acknowledgment over the dark flesh of a nipple his lips had latched upon. His tongue ground against the sensitive flesh as he pulled away, one hand dropping from the firebender’s shirt as it slipped lower, as did he himself. Warm, wet lips and tongue brushed against a firm abdomen and showed absolutely no sign of stopping, lost to the moment, the thoughts of “need more, want this,  _need_  this” repeating over and over again in his mind. Somewhere within the fray was the thought that he might be making Mako uncomfortable in his sudden haste and desire for him, but after years of watching and wishing from afar, Bolin found himself unable to stop.

Rather than slowing down, Bolin continued further, lips brushing above the other teen’s belly button before pulling away only for an instant. His hands gripped at Mako’s slacks and suddenly yanked them downward, failing to care for the failing of legs and the sudden shift in the other bender’s position as he literally threw the clothing aside, gripped at the man’s hips, and lifted them right off of the bench with incredible ease. Large arms wrapped around Mako’s waist as Bolin only momentarily took in the sight of him, how hard he already was making his own neglected need throb insistently, but there were far more important things at hand. Namely, finally being able to put his lips around the firebender’s cock, something he had thought of time and again, more so than any other fantasy he had ever played out in his dreams. He always wanted nothing more than to taste him, to have Mako loose control all while Bolin took him in as deeply as he could, and though he had no idea just how large the firebender would be, he was by  _no means_  disappointed. Bolin practically licked his lips as he ran the flat of his tongue from base to tip, groaning at the taste of the small bead of release that had pooled there, and immediately took him into his mouth with a moan of satisfaction.

The elder teen swallowed heavily as Bolin practically growled against the stud of thicker skin between his lips, hissing in another breath as the broad swath of the brunette’s tongue dragged against now damp flesh at his sternum. If all of the blood from his brain weren’t rushing between his legs, he’d probably be balking at  how shameless his younger sibling’s actions were. Before he could protest and lead the other man’s face back to his own, the cold draft of the surrounding air chilling the now bare skin of his lower body made him shiver. The leaner of the pair bucked suddenly like a spooked horse, trying to modestly cover himself despite the fact that the earthbender knew exactly what he was doing and what he wanted. 

“Shit- ‘ _Slow_ ’, I said, what are y-” the captain snapped in a semi-irritated fashion, eyes going wide as the thicker youth grasped at his hips and pulled his lower body forward and against the solid weight of his larger forearms.

Mako struggled to not fall entirely back against the bench upholstery, keeping his weight balanced on his hand and crooked elbows as he attempted a pointed glare at his younger sibling. The lust-hazed intensity that met his line of sight made his mouth run dry, another shudder traveling down the length of his spine in sudden rush of heat.

“Wait. Wait, wa-” he hissed quickly, trailing off into a loud, strangled moan as wet warmth slid up the length of his cock. The normally cool and composed teen arched his back sharply, head falling back against the threadbare pillows as his thighs tensed and trembled from the pleasurable sensations gripping him.

The low rumble of the earthbender’s voice- the slick, almost unbearable heat of his mouth- was unraveling him completely, Mako unable to hold back from panting for air, clawing and gripping at the edge of the seating bench in response to the feel of Bolin’s lips wrapping around him. His entire body felt far too hot and the pulse of the heart was damn near thudding against his ribcage, leaving him feeling feverish, yet acutely aware of the slightest shift in weight or pressure against him. Both of his eyes were clenched shut as his lips parted in a gasp, another desperate and almost pained noise reverberating in the slender column of his throat as his hips rolled forward of their own accord, the muscles of his abdomen flexing and moving in an instinctual rhythm his mind hadn’t caught up to just yet.

The moan that slipped from Mako’s lips, loud as it was, shot right down the earthbender’s spine to his cock, his own hips shifting at the sensation though found nothing to brush against. He groaned faintly in annoyance, but it was short lived at the feel of the other man’s length in his mouth, the weight of him against his tongue, how his mouth fit around the girth of him without too much difficulty. Bolin could practically feel his racing pulse against the flat of his tongue, the feel of which only spurred him on further, as if the completely wrecked groans and gasps slipping from Mako’s lips weren’t already doing a hell of a lot of damage.

Bolin nearly choked when the thinner bender bucked forward, slipping his length from his mouth for only a moment as he readjusted his hips in his arms. Whatever smart-ass remark he might have made regarding Mako being careful died in his throat at the sight of him, how tightly wound he was, lips parted with his groans and need for air, eyes clenched shut, hands clinging to whatever he could grip to, knuckles turned stark-white from the strength put into it. Bolin practically growled at the sight, running his tongue from root to tip once more before taking him as deeply as he could into his mouth, all the while watching the way Mako reacted while he kept as firm of a hold on his hips as he could. One hand moved to slide down the elder teen’s abdomen as much as he could without compromising the position they were in, not that Mako was all that heavy, but he was moving a hell of a lot. Not that Bolin minded. Damn if the sight of him wasn’t hot as hell.

All attempts to restrain his reactions fell to the wayside the longer the brunette kept his lips and tongue wrapped around the firebender’s length, Mako being unable to string together coherent thought long enough to even question why and how his surrogate brother knew about pleasing someone of the same gender. Not that the elder athlete was entirely unaware of such things, he’d heard his fair share of tall tales from the similar, of age street kids. Hearing about such things and experiencing them first hand were entirely different, however.

The deep, animalistic growl his partner emitted made him shiver almost violently, the hungry, wanton behavior Bolin was enacting shaking the elder man to his core. Mako had been the target of others’ affections before, but none of it had mattered to him, registered on the level that he was currently experiencing. He’d been wary and afraid of his younger brother harboring such intense emotions and desires for him in the past, yet everything they’d managed to share that evening felt as natural and ‘right’ despite being entirely new. 

Pushing his chin against his chest and collar bone, Mako managed to open his eyelids halfway in an attempt to focus on something to ground him. The sight of the earthbender’s impressively built arms holding and supporting his weight as though it were nothing- thick, corded muscle flexing beneath healthy, sun-darkened flesh- merely stole his breath away once more, another completely wrecked sounding moan slipping past his parted lips. Bolin’s brow was slightly furrowed in concentration, fuller lips stretched tightly around the shaft of his cock,  the younger man looking as though the only, singular thing on his mind was getting more of his partner’s flesh inside the heat of his mouth. Mako hissed out a curse as he remained rooted in place and unable to tear his eyes away from the scene before him.

Being less experienced in such things, it honestly didn’t take long before Mako’s body began to shake and tense from pleasure; the feeling of the brunette’s nose pressing against his lower abdomen as he swallowed him down to the root managing to unhinge him completely. He panicked for a moment, pushing himself further up on his elbows to shove his partner away at the last second, yanking roughly at wavy strands of hair in his haste.

“S-stop, I can’t-” he choked out desperately, managing to push Bolin away before all of his muscles seemingly contracted in unison, a mixture of pain and pleasure melding into something too intense to describe. Mako’s chest arched towards the ceiling as the sudden rush of his orgasm left him feeling weak and disoriented, pressing the heel of one tense, shaking hand against the underside of his erection to keep from coming in the other youth’s face. Small beads of sweat mixed with the thick trails of his release running down the length of his torso, the firebender’s chest glistening with more than a few trace amounts of his own come.

Bolin savored each and every moan that slipped through the other man’s lips, matching it with his own deep, muffled growl as he bobbed his head along his length. He was unfamiliar with the act, but had heard enough about it - had thought enough about it - to have a good idea as to what he should do. Going down on himself to experience was impossible for him, not to mention made his face crinkle in disgust at the mere thought of it, but he had spent enough time indulging himself in physical pleasures to know what felt good, at least to himself. His hands were a poor substitute for another’s, particularly Mako’s, but they had been enough to leave him breathless and practically incapable of keeping silent the longer they brushed his chest, abdomen, and between his legs. The mind was certainly a powerful thing when Bolin bothered to actually focus on something.

The earthbender grunted in surprise when he was suddenly pushed away, about to ask what was wrong, before he winced at the feel of something wet and warm hitting his chest and the underside of his chin. He opened his eyes slightly just in time to see the last bucks of Mako’s hips, the final bursts of release from his cock, and the absolutely blissed-out look on the other bender’s face. Bolin was far too mesmerized by what he currently saw before him to respond to what had just happened, but when his own length’s incessant throbbing burst through the haze, he brushed the palm of his hand against his still clothed erection as his fingers wiped at the liquid on his chin and, without a moment’s hesitation, slipped the digits into his mouth. He groaned loudly at the taste, sucking his fingers clean before slipping them out with a soft, slick pop.

“You taste so good…,” Bolin mumbled as his hand made it’s way past the fabric of his slacks to brush against hot, firm flesh. He leaned downward, propped up on his free arm, and ran his lips and tongue along the salty, milky release that dotted Mako’s now hot, blushed red skin. Each movement was slow, allowing him to savor the taste of him as his own hips began to buck against the firm grip of his hand, wishing for a moment that it was Mako who’s hand grabbed him in such a way, but failed to voice it.

It took the elder man a few moments to regain his sense of self, the firebender’s toned, but slender limbs shaking slightly as he recovered from the force of his orgasm. He was flushed from arousal still, but mostly shame and embarrassment, as he hadn’t managed to endure much at all before it came to a sudden, unexpected end. Covering the upper half of his face with a groan of annoyance, Mako grit his teeth and tried to think up some form of explanation or apology for ruining what should have been a pleasurable experience for them both.

The firebender’s eyes snapped open once more when Bolin just looked more turned on (if possible), licking his own fingers clean like he couldn’t get enough of the taste of his partner. A flicker of hunger raced through him, the immediacy of his lust returning so soon managing to shock even himself. The elder teen immediately pushed himself onto his knees and forced the brunette’s hand aside, staring directly back into Bolin’s eyes as he slowly ground the heel of his palm against the bulge in his slacks. He had no intention of being completely useless, he wanted- needed- to see the earthbender’s expression when he came, find out what kinds of touches pushed him to the very edge of his patience.

Noticing a smear of his seed on the brunette’s bottom lip, Mako leaned in to slowly lick the spot clean with his tongue, gently biting and tugging at the plush cushion of sensitive flesh. It wasn’t entirely abhorrent, when he thought about it and if it managed to turn his partner on at the same time, then just as well. The previously hesitant and prudish athlete made a show out of sucking whatever traces of come remained on his left hand, making sure that Bolin was unable to do much else than stare at the way his thinner lips and tongue worked at his long, thin fingers.

“You mentioned before that you’ve thought about this… Was I going slowly, teasing you until you begged for it?” he asked in a low, sultry growl, finally sliding his hand beneath the waistband of the younger man’s remaining clothing. Bolin’s cock was hot and heavy against his palm, definitely thicker where his elder brother had more length. He suddenly twisted his fingers around his partner’s length on the upstroke, rubbing the pad of his thumb back and forth across the tip of his erection. “Or, do you prefer it rough and fast, not allowing you a chance to breathe, think, move…”

Bolin hadn’t expected the thinner man to return the favor, which was fine by him. In the vast majority of his daydreams, it was often the earthbender who lavished attention upon the other man, watched his body writhe from pleasure, listened to his groans and pleas for more, held his hips at bay as he took Mako further and further into his mouth. When the firebender suddenly moved, knocking his hand aside and pressing right up close, Bolin was too shocked to say or do much of anything. Which was only made all the worse when a warm palm that wasn’t his own pressed against his covered cock and Mako parted his lips to lick his own fingers clean of his release. A most definitely unsexy, short and high-pitched groan slipped from his lips, which he tried to cover by grunting to ‘clear his throat’, but it hadn’t gone unnoticed.

“Mako -  _Mako_ \- Mako Ge - ” Bolin rambled when he finally found his voice. Green eyes were wide in shock, almost childlike in their size, but the hunger he felt was seen as clear as day. They clenched shut when Mako’s hand slipped past the thick fabric of his slacks, the back of his head thumped loudly against the wall behind him as his back arched and hips rocked forward. He couldn’t even think of what to say; nothing he had thought of in the past was coming to mind. He was completely entrapped within the hand that gripped at his length and the rough, alluring, devastatingly sexy growl to Mako’s tone. “You’re trying to kill me, aren’t you, you just -  _aah_  - this isn’t fair, this is, I’ve thought about this and it was never like -  _oh shit don’t stop_  - ” he hissed, his hands slipping through his own hair and pulling at the thick strands before they wrapped themselves around the thinner man’s waist.

It was anything but difficult pulling Mako right into his lap, hands gripping at the man’s angular hips as he guided one slim, muscular thigh to settle on the other side of his own. Bolin pulled him closer with a deep growl, lips slamming against the firebender’s own in a kiss that was sloppy at best, but the way in which their tongues and mouths clashed only turned him on all the more.

The high-pitched squeak of surprise accompanied by the dinner-plate wide, puppyish green eyes that stared back at him made the captain chuckle faintly, the raspy growl to his voice even managing to sound like a come on. Mako leaned in close to whisper a shushing noise against the shell of the younger man’s ear, nipping faintly at the fleshy lobe with a very evil looking smirk.

“Tell me what you want,  _xiong di_ …” he murmured before trailing the tip of his tongue along the outer rim of the brunette’s ear, letting his breath ghost against the darker olive skin there.

He had been wanting to hear Bolin struggle to form audible words, but the rough yank at his waist was a good enough answer, as well. He slid into the larger teen’s lap without protest, tilting his head to the side as their mouths practically slammed together. The elder youth proved to be a quick learner, as he wasted no time before sucking at his partner’s tongue, moaning deeply at the taste of himself lingering on his sibling’s lips.

Mako canted his lower body against Bolin’s enough for contact to register, but kept the pace and pressure infuriatingly mild, allowing his own returning arousal to slowly build as thicker hips attempted to push and grind harder at the front of his body.

“Normally, I can’t get you to shut up, what’s with the sudden modesty?” he laughed, pulling at the other man’s lower lip with his teeth hard enough to bruise, but not leave lasting marks or cause lingering pain. “Gotta make up for lost time,  _xiao gui_ , so… Would you close your eyes and imagine it was my hand running against you like this?” he murmured against the brunette’s chin, keeping a hand between them if only to guide Bolin’s length against his own, allowing his other hand to leisurely travel the broad planes of his chest. Imagining the younger man touching himself while lost in some explicit fantasy was amusing, as well as arousing, but he wanted to hear details and watch the earthbender struggle to maintain his obedience.

“And normally you’re not - not acting like  _this_ ,” Bolin replied rather lamely, his words parting on an airy breath. His teeth clenched as he groaned again, Mako’s words hitting and hitting hard. Time and again, he had tried to imagine what the firebender would sound like in the heat of the moment, how his voice would lower, whether or not he’d speak with a growl, if his voice would sound airy, demanding or submissive. Mako was strong and assertive, but just because someone was like that on a daily basis didn’t mean they acted similarly in bed.

Bolin couldn’t gather his thoughts clearly enough to think of an answer for a moment as he glanced down between them at what the other man was doing. It was dark in the room, but his eyes had adjusted enough to see well enough, and what he saw provoked another deep groan from his lips. Mako was already hard for a second time that evening, rocking his length against the earthbender’s own as Mako’s free hand trailed along the thicker teen’s larger chest. His own hands were still locked on to his partner’s hip and thigh, blunt nails digging into pale flesh hard enough to leave bruises.

Another curse slipped out into the relative silence in the room as Bolin felt himself steadily nearing his own end, the entire scenario making it take hardly any time at all before the familiar warmth began to build more and more in his abdomen. “I… yeah,” he started rather lamely, pressing his head back against the wall once more as he tried to gather his thoughts. “Sometimes, I’d think… after we’re at the gym and we come back up here, and we’re changing, you’d come up behind me and do this. But usually, I would - I’d do it to you. With my hands or mouth, I just - I always wanted to taste you, Mako Ge, for  _so long_ , you taste  _so good_ ,” the thicker man rambled, licking his lips at the mere thought of him.

Mako kept his touches fleeting and light until Bolin finally began to describe a sample of the lurid thoughts he’d kept hidden over the years, allowing his tongue to snake-out and drag against the natural line of his sternum. He moved onward, mimicking the same treatment his younger sibling had lavished on his upper torso, employing the use of his lips around darker, hardened flesh. Always having been one to add his own finesse to something he’d just learned, the firebender alternated between light and hard suction against the erogenous area, grazing the edge of his teeth just barely against the sensitive skin. 

Hearing Bolin admit just how badly he’d wanted him made the elder teen shudder  deeply, rocking his hips against the brunette’s roughly in response to his words and the tremor of his voice as he tried to maintain his composure. He wouldn’t have minded if his partner decided to get around to exactly that once more, uttering another strained curse as he left possessive marks on his brother’s chest and neck.

“Next time… let me,” Mako breathed, leading of Bolin’s hands to his mouth, pressing his lips against larger, training scarred knuckles. He’d never been too talkative to begin with, preferring his actions to make up for his taciturn way about social interaction. Rather than describe what he wanted, the firebender allowed the younger man’s index and middle fingers to slip between his lips, rubbing his tongue against the length of each digit and groaning as though he were currently pleasing something else entirely with his mouth. He’d never tried such an act and the brunette’s length was far thicker than his own, but imagining the solid weight of it against his tongue and feeling Bolin’s hands tugging at the back of his scalp made the effort seem well earned.

Bolin’s eyes widened to a comical degree once more as Mako took his hand and began to lavish attention upon his thicker fingers. His throat ran dry at the sight, completely rooted in place as lips and tongue teased at the flesh as though it were a different portion of his anatomy entirely. His mind stopped dead in it’s tracks, then suddenly burst to life in an instant, countless thoughts and desires flashing running through it as he felt his body become overcome with sensation. The feel of wet warmth around his fingers, the way the fire bender moaned so shamelessly, the hand that still gripped at his length and the way his partner’s cock rubbed against his own.

The other man’s name slipped from Bolin’s lips in a deep, hungry growl as his eyes clenched shut, hips rocking upward as he felt himself nearing his end far too quickly. He had no experience in the sort of thing they were doing; he thought about it, sure, imagined what it would be like, had heard stories from people with experience, but he himself was severely lacking in that department. Not that it showed. Not that he cared. Not that he could with Mako honestly returning his affections and treating him, not as his ‘little brother’, but as a man who knew what he wanted. The thicker teen hissed loudly as he felt his body tense and an orgasm unlike any other he had experience burst through, his back arching heavily as his hands grabbed at Mako’s hips once more, grip hard enough to bruise. Bolin’s mouth fell open in a choked groan as his hips bucked into his companion’s hand a few times before falling still, leaving the earthbender breathless and loose-limbed. He could hardly manage to even open his eyes, humming softly in contented laziness as he simply basked in the afterglow for a time.

Mako could do no more than silently watch as Bolin steadily came undone, taking in how his expression shifted in response to the pleasure coursing through his body. Well defined muscle tensed and flexed as the brunette was unable to endure much more, the elder teen finding himself transfixed by how expressive and alluring the earthbender looked as he climaxed. It only took a few rough strokes of his own hand against his cock before he followed suit, nearly falling against the shorter male’s chest as he recovered from just as strong of an orgasm as the last. After panting against and leaning his forehead into the crook of Bolin’s bulkier shoulder, Mako lifted his head and left a few lazy, affectionately simple touches of his lips against the brunette’s cheek, jaw, then his lower lip, fishing around the cushions of the bench of his discarded undershirt for something to use to clean them both off with.

“Think you can make it back to bed or am I going to have to carry you?” the elder of the pair teased in a quiet, but satiated tone of voice, back to his good natured teasing and easy-going comfort around his younger sibling. Mako smirked as he flicked the tip of his index finger against the random, ever-rebellious curl sticking up from the crown of Bolin’s forehead, watching as it merely bounced back into place. “We should get to sleep. Busy day, tomorrow.”

Bolin hummed softly in pleasure as thin lips trailed against his skin, cocking his head to the side as his jaw was kissed. His eyes opened lazily, blinking a few times before they managed to focus on the taller man still situated in his lap. The smile that sat on his lips was small, but completely content, his thumbs brushing softly along the bony protrusions of his hip bones as Mako carefully wiped away whatever amounts of their release had splattered against their skin. As sticky and cold as it quickly became due to the chill in the room - which suddenly registered and made their hair on his arms stand on end - being so close to the other bender and having the warmth of his body settled in his lap kept him from becoming too uncomfortable. Not that it mattered much, as he was still in complete and utter disbelief over what had just transpired. He wouldn’t be surprised if he awoke the following morning to find that it had all been a dream and nothing more. An incredibly awesome and unbelievably realistic dream.

“What if we just sleep here?” Bolin offered as his hands slipped over slim hips to grope playfully at Mako’s backside. He grinned childishly and whined as though he had no intention of moving, but finally relented after a time, as he knew both of them trying to sleep in such a small spot would be not only impossible, but uncomfortable. The earthbender watched as his companion slipped from his lap, the way the scant light from Republic City that flooded through the large windows played upon his bare, pale skin. Even with such little light offered, Mako’s impressive, lithe musculature was pronounced enough to leave Bolin wanting to reach out and run his fingers along the dips and curves his eyes currently lingered upon.

Finally rising from the bench, Bolin adjusted his slacks so that they fell properly on his hips, then joined the other bender in bed. He grinned and wrapped his arms around Mako, holding him close as he pressed a kiss to his shoulder. “Let’s just sleep in. Toza won’t care,” he stated despite how well he knew how much the old man hated it when they slept in. The former pro-bender allowed them to stay in the attic as long as they had enough money to pay for it thanks to odd jobs here and there, but helping in keeping at least the gym in as pristine shape as they could was definitely a major portion of their agreement. People were hired to maintain the arena, of course, but Toza was very particular about the gym in specific, and more often than not, the hired crews failed to do exactly what he demanded of them.

“Come on, get serious,” Mako snorted, slapping lightly as Bolin’s wandering hands so he could push away from the bench. The elder athlete slipped his pants back over his leaner, toned legs before double-checking the makeshift seals at the windows. The wind seemed to have died down for now, so he wouldn’t have to worry about getting up earlier than anticipated to change out the rags and towels he’d stuffed between the window sills.

He didn’t shy away when the younger man suddenly became affectionate again, loosely keeping his arms around the brunette in a protective fashion. He’d initially been worried that crossing that boundary might change every aspect of their relationship from then on, but he was glad that they could still share comfort and familiarity like this. 

“We’ll see. Let’s just try and get some rest for now, okay?” he muttered, knowing there was no way Toza was going to let them slack off (unless he decided to have a late start of the next day himself), but no reason to get into an argument about it now. He’d nag his sibling awake after they’d at least gotten a few hours of shut eye in. He pulled Bolin in close to his chest, stroking his fingers through the earthbender’s hair as his breathing eventually slowed down into a relaxed and repetitive rhythm. The soft sounds of the rain hitting the tiled roof and wooden shutters protecting the windows became a monotonous, but calming drone in the background, the elder teenager eventually drifting off beside the slumbering brunette pressed to his side and front.

A soft noise of agreement was all that was heard as Mako’s warmth, the familiarity of the press of his body against Bolin’s own, and the fingers which ran through his hair steadily put the thicker teen to sleep. He nuzzled himself close to the other man’s side, using the firebender’s shoulder as a makeshift pillow as one large arm draped itself over his companion’s waist. It wasn’t long before he was lost in a deep, blissful sleep, lips parted as soft, weak snores joined the gentle shuffle of wind outside and the occasional light pat of drizzle. Even as sunlight began to filter in through the large windows, Bolin failed to stir as he usually would, simply shuffling closer to his surrogate brother as they continue to sleep, content in the warmth trapped beneath their shared blankets and the comfort they provided one another.


End file.
